Ride Through Centuries at Tianning Temple and Its Towering Pagoda
Walk through the gates of Tianning Temple and you enter a living Buddhist monastery where monks still practice their daily rituals. The immediate draw is the Tianning Baota—a 13-story wooden pagoda that rises 153.79 meters above the grounds, its height a statement of ambition. First built during the Tang dynasty, the pagoda has been destroyed and rebuilt five times across the centuries; what stands now is the result of recent reconstruction. Climb its interior for views across Changzhou, or simply stand in the temple courtyard and watch light move across the wooden surfaces. The temple grounds themselves, though recently rebuilt, sit on religious ground that reaches back over a thousand years. Tianning Temple sits just east of the city centre, accessible by bus routes 220 and 903, or a short walk from Culture Palace metro station.
- Entry: ¥80; open 08:30–16:30, no entry after 16:00
- Allow at least two hours to explore the temple and climb the pagoda
- Tianning Temple, 636 Yanling Middle Road, Tianning District
Wander Former Textile Mills Turned Creative Quarters at Canal 5
Industrial heritage takes on new life at Canal 5, where old factory buildings have been thoughtfully restored and repurposed. What were once textile mills—relics of Changzhou's cotton-manufacturing boom—now house art studios, restaurants, design studios, think tanks, and nightclubs. The architecture tells the story of early 20th-century industrial ambition: salvaged elements from the original structures blend with modern restoration work, creating spaces that feel both rooted in the past and alive to the present. Walk between studio spaces, peer into working artists' workshops, take your camera to the waterside, or hop onto a traditional boat that departs from here and cruises the Changzhou river. Canal 5 offers an antidote to the city's faster pace, a place where the noise recedes and you can genuinely explore what industrial Changzhou looked like. It sits on the west side of the Grand Canal in Zhonglou District.
- Reach it by bus no. 258 or take a tour boat from nearby Dongpo Park
- Free entry; various restaurants and studios have their own hours
- Canal 5 Creative Campus, 141 Sanbao Street, Wuxing Subdistrict, Zhonglou District
Stand in Song Dynasty Gardens and Trace Imperial Footsteps at Dongpo Park
Dongpo Park sits on an island formed by the Grand Canal and smaller waterways—a deliberate placement that gives the space a sense of remove from the surrounding city. The park is named after Su Dong Po, the Song dynasty poet, artist and landscape gardener who died in Changzhou and left an indelible mark on local culture. Walk across the arching bridge to a second islet where the Dongpo academy hall stands, fronted by a statue of the man himself; this is the quietest spot to watch boats navigate the Grand Canal. In the main garden lie the modest remains of an imperial palace built for the visiting Emperor Qianlong—foundations and fragments of carved stone are all that survive, but they anchor the space in its imperial past. Just 100 meters south along Yanling Middle Road, two weathered Song dynasty pillars from a destroyed temple rise beside a minor canal, their surface still bearing carved depictions of clouds, mountains, rivers, and protective deities after more than a thousand years.
- Free entry; open 05:00–21:00
- Buses 7, 8, 17, 25, 220b, 303, 903, b12, b2 and d6 serve the park; it is 1.5 km east of Tongji Bridge metro station
- Dongpo Park, 9 Yanling Middle Road, Tianning District
Explore Museums and Monuments of Water and Stone
The Changzhou Museum, set on Longcheng Avenue in the Xinbei District, displays the city's past through carefully arranged collections. Entry is free and English-speaking guides are available for ¥100, making it possible to understand the objects—from the Neolithic to the Ming—in proper context. The museum sits 760 meters from Civic Square metro station on Line 1, or you can arrive by bus routes 24, 213 or b12.
Hongmei Park, a large garden space near the Culture Palace metro station, holds Writing Pagoda at its southern end—a structure built during the Southern Dynasties (479–482) and renamed during the Taiping Rebellion era. The pagoda was designed to resemble a writing brush, earning it the affection of Changzhou's literati. The park itself sprawls across lakes, pavilions and gardens, with goldfish in transparent tubes and an elevated walkway among trees. Entry is free and the park is open all day.
- Changzhou Museum: Tu–Su 09:00–17:00, closed Mondays, no entry after 16:00
- Hongmei Park (Red Plum Park): free entry, open all hours
- Writing Pagoda is located within Hongmei Park, 28 Danqing Road, Tianning District
Step Into Natural and Living Worlds at Dinosaur Park and Yancheng Safari Park
Dinosaur Park, located in the Xinbei District, holds one of China's largest collections of dinosaur bones and fossils, displayed in a single museum building. Beyond the paleontology displays, the park spreads across six themed areas with more than 30 amusement programs—from the Brontosaurus Roller Coaster to the Whirling Dinosaur Carriage. The park is rated 5A and also maintains a giant panda and sea lions among its residents. This is a place where serious fossil work sits alongside family-oriented entertainment.
Yancheng Safari Park offers a different kind of encounter with the animal world. Visitors can observe wildlife either on foot or by driving their own vehicle through designated park areas. The park sits on Wuyi Middle Road in Wujin District and is reachable by bus B1 to the Yancheng Central Public Bus Terminal, or by metro to Yanzheng Avenue station.
- Dinosaur Park: daily 09:00–17:00; ¥160 (afternoon only), ¥260 (full day)
- Yancheng Safari Park: 09:00–17:00; ¥180 (standard), ¥90 (seniors and children 1.2–1.5m), free for children under 1.2m; extra ¥200–¥400 for private vehicle entry depending on passenger count
- Dinosaur Park: 1 Hanjiang Road, Xinbei District
- Yancheng Safari Park: 199 Wuyi Middle Road, Wujin District
Changzhou rewards the traveller who moves slowly through its neighborhoods and waterways—from the industrial-turned-creative spaces of Canal 5 to the contemplative stillness of Dongpo Park, and from the ambition of the Tianning Baota to the careful preservation of Song-era stone. Begin mapping your route now.